Common Paradox Tech Blog

We’ve talked a lot this week about the so-called “Location War” brewing at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas starting tomorrow. That war will happen, but actually, there are likely to be a lot of winners because a few of the location-based services should be able to leverage the exposure to gain usage after the conference. Those with real bloodlust should probably be watching another war: AT&T versus everyone in Austin on their network.

AT&T’s struggles to stay up last year are well-documented. CNN recently ran a piece about how AT&T hopes to avoid a similar fate this year. But actually, “struggles” is way too kind of a word. If you were at SXSW last year and happened to be on AT&T’s network — like, say, if you had an iPhone, like many festival-goers did — it was an absolute nightmare. You couldn’t make a call. You couldn’t send a text. Data? Ha. At a few points early on I seriously wondered if I had forgotten to pay my bill and AT&T had simply shut my phone off — except that it was happening to everyone.

AT&T has a funny word for the failure, they like to say “unprecedented.” As in, the usage of its network was at level previously unseen as a strong percentage of the over 10,000 festival goers (just the interactive part) were using iPhones. Well guess what? Word is that is year, there will be some 15,000 people there for the interactive part. As Samual L. Jackson’s character, Mr. Arnold, says in Jurassic Park, “Hold on to your butts.”

We’ve talked a lot this week about the so-called “Location War” brewing at the SXSW festival in Austin, Texas starting tomorrow. That war will happen, but actually, there are likely to be a lot of winners because a few of the location-based services should be able to leverage the exposure to gain usage after the conference. Those with real bloodlust should probably be watching another war: AT&T versus everyone in Austin on their network.

AT&T’s struggles to stay up last year are well-documented. CNN recently ran a piece about how AT&T hopes to avoid a similar fate this year. But actually, “struggles” is way too kind of a word. If you were at SXSW last year and happened to be on AT&T’s network — like, say, if you had an iPhone, like many festival-goers did — it was an absolute nightmare. You couldn’t make a call. You couldn’t send a text. Data? Ha. At a few points early on I seriously wondered if I had forgotten to pay my bill and AT&T had simply shut my phone off — except that it was happening to everyone.

AT&T has a funny word for the failure, they like to say “unprecedented.” As in, the usage of its network was at level previously unseen as a strong percentage of the over 10,000 festival goers (just the interactive part) were using iPhones. Well guess what? Word is that is year, there will be some 15,000 people there for the interactive part. As Samual L. Jackson’s character, Mr. Arnold, says in Jurassic Park, “Hold on to your butts.”

According to emails sent from AT&T employees to MacDailyNews readers, the network is working hard to enable iPhone tethering as soon as possible. Many of our readers are still waiting patiently to see when AT&T will flip the switch on iPhone tethering and if you contact AT&T the following are the contents of the cookie [...]

AT&T Working Hard to Deliver iPhone Tethering Soon? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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So AT&T finally has their first Android phone, the Motorola Backflip. Whether or not you like the unusual design and Yahoo search (really?), it runs Android and it’s on AT&T. That by itself is remarkable. Now that the phone is available, users are finding yet another surprise that separates this from all the Android phones that came before it. It turns out that the option to allow apps from non-Android Market sources has been disabled.

It has long been held that obtaining apps from the Android Market was just a polite suggestion from Google. Users could get apps from various third-party stores and websites. Additionally, many beta apps are only distributed in this way. The reason for the change is currently unclear and no one is talking. This leaves the Backflip in much the same place the iPhone is, stuck with apps from only a single source, and in this case, a much smaller source.

AT&T has certainly had their way with Android here. Consider the removal of Google search, the addition of lots of AT&T bloatware, and now the locking down of app installs. This makes us wonder what AT&T’s Android strategy will look like. Will future Android handsets be similarly limited?

Good news for those of you who are fans of Motorola’s Backflip and its somewhat funky form factor. AT&T now offers the backward flipping smartphone for $99 through its website.

There are a couple of caveats, of course. To get below the $100 price point, you’ll have to play the mail-in-rebate game, which comes in the form of an AT&T Promotion Card "valid wherever VIsa is accepted, and for 120 days after issue date." You’ll also need to commit to a 2-year service agreement and $30 per month data service.

What you get in return is an Android 1.5-based smartphone capable of being upgraded to Android 2.1. The Backflip also sports a 5MP camera with 4X zoom, 3.1-inch touchscreen with a 480 x 320 resolution, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 2.0, GPS, a 3.5mm headphone jack, microSD card expansion up to 32GB, and a 1380 mAh battery Motorola claims amounts to up to 6 hours of talk time and 13.5 days of standby.

Product Page

Image Credit: Motorola

Not one to mince words, Steve Jobs squashed all hope of the iPad supporting iPhone tethering for wireless internet access with one word — “No.”

The succinct answer was communicated by Jobs via email (from his iPhone) to Jezper Söderlund of Sweden who emailed Jobs to ask, “Will the wifi-only version somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?”

9to5Mac has both emails in question, along with email header information, and all indications point to the one word buzz-kill response being legit. You can read the text of the email inquiry and Jobs’ response below:

Söderlund’s email:

I’ll keep it short.

I’m Jezper from Sweden, a long time Apple fan, currently about to replace the very last computer at home with a brand spanking new iMac i7. I’m also awaiting the release of the iPad. However, I have one question:

Will the wifi-only version somehow support tethering thru my iPhone?

Two devices, based on the same OS, with already built-in technology to share one data plan suggests a secondary contract could possibly be redundant.

From the look of your keynote, where the iPad sits well between my MacBook Pro and my iPhone, I was hoping the three of them could interact as seamless as possible.

All the best,

Jezper Söderlund[a famous DJ in his own right]

Jobs’ response:

No.

Sent from my iPhone

The bottom line is that those of you who were hoping to buy the cheaper WiFi version of the iPad and tether your iPhone for 3G Internet access (and avoid the additional 3G hardware costs and AT&T subscription plan) are out of luck.

From a consumer perspective, the news is quite disappointing. One would hope that the costly iPhone data plan would be applicable to the iPad. The idea of paying a per device monthly wireless Internet fee is one that won’t sit well with most consumers. The decision doesn’t exactly come as a surprise though. We already know that AT&T is facing network challenges, which they blame on heavy iPhone users, so it wouldn’t make sense for them to encourage or support additional bandwidth without additional fees.

Tags: Apple iPad, Apple Tablet, att, iphone tethering, steve jobs

External validation is a funny thing. Without it the events in our lives, no matter how significant, have less meaning, if they have meaning at all. The birthdays we remember aren’t those which were emotionally special, but the ones we can relive because they were captured on video. Now, it seems, we can’t even experience place without external validation. Sure, you’re ‘here,’ but you still have a need to validate your being ‘here’ before being ‘here’ becomes real.

Simple things like Google Earth, just for starters, cater to this need for external validation of place. Smartphones, such as Apple’s iPhone, allow triangulation for approximation of location. And AT&T has just widened the options for PC users with the introduction of the new USBConnect Velocity modem from Option–AT&T’s first to offer GPS. Plug it in; connect to AT&T’s 3G wireless network; and watch yourself wander about the map.

AT&T says the Velocity “opens the door to location-based applications making it easier than ever for customers to get to their desired destination.” In addition, enterprise customers can add TeleNav Track LITE and Xora GPS Locator for tracking and location awareness. The Velocity also has a microSD card slot, letting it perform double-duty.

The Velocity, along with the USBConnect Turbo from LG, will be available at AT&T stores nationwide on March 7. The Velocity will be cost $29.99, after mail-in rebate and a new two-year DataConnect contract of at least $35 a month.

Image Credit: AT&T

If you want to use a dedicated 3G dongle for your laptop, hardware choices are always limited. Here are AT&Ts two new offerings, the LG Velocity and Option Turbo. And no, you’re not the only one who thought “American Gladiators.”

LG Velocity

Free with a two-year contract, the Velocity is a no-frills card, with HSPA 7.2 support, MicroSD slot for thumb drive capability and a swiveling head that should allow you to—well, if you’ve actually used one of these 3G sticks, you know that they can be unwieldy. So it helps.

Option Turbo

Despite its plastic design, the Turbo is AT&T’s new premium 3G stick. It, too, supports MicroSD, but it also adds aGPS and will set you back $30 with two-year contract.

Both new dongles will be available starting March 7th.

DALLAS, March 1, 2010 – AT&T* today announced two new 3G LaptopConnect devices: the AT&T USBConnect Turbo from LG and AT&T USBConnect Velocity from Option. Both will be available in AT&T retail stores, business channels and online beginning March 7. The Turbo and Velocity enable customers to stay connected on their laptop while on the go with the nation’s fastest 3G network.

The Velocity, is the first GPS-enabled LaptopConnect device from AT&T. The built-in aGPS functionality opens the door to location-based applications making it easier than ever for customers to get to their desired destination. Option offers a free software application, the Option GPS Control Panel, that leverages location-enabled sites like Yahoo! Maps and Bing for directions and local points of interest. Option GPS Control Panel will be available for download on the Option support web page beginning March 7. Additionally, through TeleNav Track LITE™ and Xora GPS Locator from AT&T, enterprise customers can add tracking and location awareness thus improving response time by easily locating the closest worker to a service call.

The Turbo is AT&T’s first LaptopConnect device from LG and features a compact, lightweight design. Turbo’s HSPA 7.2 capability offers a high speed Internet connection that allows users to meet their professional and personal computing needs away from their office or home computer. The ergonomic design and unique USB connector makes Turbo compatible with a wide variety of laptop configurations.

Both devices feature an integrated microSD card slot making them portable storage devices that allow users to carry the data and files they need at their fingertips. LaptopConnect devices allow customers to get more done on-the-go as well as keep up to date with their professional network from anywhere AT&T provides data coverage.

“Velocity and Turbo both offer a first for AT&T: our first GPS enabled LaptopConnect device and our first LaptopConnect device from LG,” said Michael Woodward, vice president, Mobile Phone Portfolio, AT&T Mobility and Consumer Markets. “In addition to being compatible with our latest HSPA technology, the two devices let AT&T customers get more done while on the go. From traveling professionals to students, AT&T offers a LaptopConnect solution for everyone.”

Pricing and Availability
Beginning March 7, both the Turbo and Velocity will be available online and in AT&T stores nationwide. AT&T USBConnect Turbo will be available for free after mail-in rebate and a new two-year DataConnect contract of at least $35 a month (pay $99.99 and after mail-in rebate receive $100 AT&T Promotion Card. Two-year agreement and DataConnect plan required).

AT&T USBConnect Velocity will be available for $29.99 after mail-in rebate and a new two-year DataConnect contract of at least $35 a month (pay $129.99 and after mail-in rebate receive $100 AT&T Promotion Card. Two-year agreement and DataConnect plan required).

AT&T CEO, Randall Stephenson, has been quoted in saying that the Apple iPad will be a “Wi-Fi driven product” so no customers should be concerned with poor 3G data. But it did not end there, he also went on to say the following.

“My expectation is that there’s not going to be a lot of people [...]

AT&T Not Banking on Selling 3G Data Plans for iPad? is a story by TiPb. This feed is sponsored by The iPhone Blog Store.

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According to AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson, iPad will be a Wi-Fi driven product. “My expectation is that there’s not going to be a lot of people out there looking for another subscription,” he said.

It makes sense; people who already have an iPhone subscription may be unlikely to go for another subscription, especially since it’s not crucial to the iPad experience, which comes in both Wi-Fi and 3G flavors.

But, have you ever actually tried to do some meaningful work (or even casual browsing) using only a Wi-Fi connection when you’re on the move? Often, you’ll find many Wi-Fi connections available, but they’re all password-protected. When you find one, you’re not very mobile anymore: sit on a tram, bus, or a subway, and your Wi-Fi is lost, then you have to search for another one. Finally, open Wi-Fi connections are often unsafe, and many users won’t dare access or send sensitive data over them.

Being able to fall back to a 3G connection improves your mobile Internet experience tremendously, and the logical question (that no one answered yet) is this: Will iPad users will be able to tether 3G connection from the iPhone? After all, if you’re paying for a 3G iPhone subscription, shouldn’t you be able to use that connection on another device (bought from the same carrier and the same manufacturer)?

Apple has so far been silent about tethering on the iPad, but it’s a question that needs to be answered, perhaps even before iPad hits the market.

Tags: 3g, att, ipad, iphone, Tethering